WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, today announced the reintroduction of the “Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act” at a press conference, joined by a coalition of national and international human rights organizations. Rep. Markey’s bill will put an end to the Administration’s practice of “extraordinary rendition,” whereby prisoners captured or detained by the US government are transferred for interrogation or detention to countries known to use torture. Markey, was joined by representatives of the ACLU, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights First. (A Fact Sheet for the “Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act”, a list of original co-sponsors, and Markey’s prepared statement from today’s press conference reintroducing the “Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act” can be found below).

- Fact Sheet - Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act.pdf
- Rep. Markey Statement as Prepared - Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act.pdf
- Original Cosponsors - Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act.pdf 

Rep. Markey said, “Torture is torture no matter where or by whom it is committed, period. Outsourcing torture is a hideous and illegal practice that has no place in the policy tool-kit of these United States. Extraordinary rendition undermines our international standing because our own gross hypocrisy prevents us from effectively advocating for improved human rights policies around the globe.”

Extraordinary rendition violates the guarantees enshrined in the Convention Against Torture as well as the 1998 Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act, both which state that no individual can be transferred to a country likely to use torture. However, the President continues to defy such provisions.

Rep. Markey continued, “Extraordinary rendition then endangers our troops overseas by encouraging other countries to loosen their own adherence to treaties such as the Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions, the very treaties which are the last line of defense for American POWs from abusive treatment at the hands of their captors.”

The Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act will:
    - Bar the transfer of individuals in custody or control of the U.S. government or contractors to any country known for the use of torture, regardless of an individual’s citizenship or location of seizure.
    - Bar the use of “diplomatic assurances” as the basis for determining that the threat of torture does not exist.

At the same time, the Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act will:
    - Allow legal, treaty-based extraditions to countries that do not torture to continue unimpeded.
    - Provide the Secretary of State with waiver authority to permit transfers if the Secretary certifies to the appropriate Congressional committees that a verifiable mechanism is in place to assure that the person transferred will not face torture, and that the country no longer practices torture.

“Congress cannot delay any longer in addressing the Administration’s use – free from any real judicial or Congressional oversight – of extraordinary rendition.  With the elections in November bringing a vital new dynamic to Washington, I feel a rising optimism that we can end this repugnant and counterproductive practice of outsourcing torture during the 110th Congress,” Rep. Markey concluded.

For more information on Rep. Markey’s efforts on banning torture, please see http://markey.house.gov